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Desperately Seeking Persistent Polish: 7 Days With Dermelect Tribeca

September 17th, 2018 by Karen 14 Comments

dermelect tribeca day before after

Desperately Seeking Persistent Polish is a series where I wear a nail polish for seven days and take before and after pics to document the condition of my paws over the course of the week!

As you know, I’m still nursing my slashed Freddy Krueger fingernails from The Great Gel Debacle of 2018 back to health, which is why I’m feeling Dermelect. They’re a line of polishes designed to help heavily damaged, brittle nails.

I haven’t seen or heard a lot about them… I feel like they’ve been on the down-low, but you can find them at Ulta.

Their formula is infused with keratin to strengthen nails, and after spending a week with this gorgeous, foggy lilac gray cream called Tribeca ($14), dare I say that my paws are looking the best they’ve looked in weeks? — especially the tips of my nails. They’re looking much healthier and stronger.

I usually avoid pastel creams because they chip like crazy on my nails (like, seriously, I’ll usually see big chunks missing at the base within a day). Plus — ugh — I’m not into layering the three or sometimes four coats it takes to boost creams up to full opacity. I’d rather spend those precious minutes of my life doing more important and pressing things…like watching people taking baths with their cats and rapping about it.

Tribeca only chipped a bit, and I only needed two coats!

I’m surprised how well it held up over the course of seven days. For the record, I used the same base and top coat I’ve been using throughout the 7 Days series.

It held up even better than my Smith & Cult rose gold glitter mani a few weeks ago, which had been the best performer in the series so far.

Tribeca is a “do” for me. Give it a whirl if you feel like a foggy, moody pastel.

Day 1

dermelect tribeca swatch 1a

dermelect tribeca swatch 1

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There are 14 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Dermelect, Nails, Product Reviews Keywords: dermelect review, dermelect swatch, dermelect tribeca swatch, desperately seeking persistent polish, nail polish swatches, nails

Desperately Seeking Persistent Polish: 7 Days With OPI Chills Are Multiplying!

September 10th, 2018 by Karen 18 Comments

opi chills are multiplying
OPI Chills Are Multiplying ($10.50) — the before and after

Desperately Seeking Persistent Polish is a series where I wear a nail polish for seven days and take before and after pics to document the condition of my paws over the course of the week!

Life lesson learned last week: the greatest threat to your manicure isn’t washing dishes, or lifting heavy weights at the gym, or pounding at the keyboard like you’ve just inhaled 12 cups of coffee. The greatest threat to your manicure — the threat that spells almost certain doom — is being distracted while waxing your upper lip at home.

From this, there is almost no going back.

A minor moment of shock

Because, friend, as I smoothed some Bliss blue wax onto the forest that is my upper lip, then stared at myself in the mirror in shock and thought, “Holy sh*t, I look exactly like my brother with a blue mustache,” I momentarily misplaced that little plastic waxing wand thingamabob you use to spread the wax on your skin and accidentally sprinkled big, hot blobs of wax onto the nails on my left hand.

WHOOPS!

Just a few chunks…

But not all was lost. After recovering from the initial shock (I’ve been waxing for years and never had this happen before. Distracted waxing is dangerous, people!), I waited for the wax to dry, massaged some of the oil that comes with the kit on my nails to loosen the wax up, and carefully peeled it off.

Unfortunately, a few chunks of my polish peeled off, too…

Frankly, I’m surprised any of the polish remained because that wax removes *everything*.

Du-ra-ble!

To make a long story even longer, all of this happened on day five of this dark blue OPI manicure. Through then, it was chugging along remarkably well. Better than average, for sure! A lot of people say that OPI lasts a really long time. Well, they aren’t joking.

Like I’ve done in my last couple of “7 Days” nail polish experiments, I used Smith & Cult’s base coat and top coat, along with two layers of polish, in this case OPI Chills Are Multiplying ($10.50).

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There are 18 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Nails, OPI, Product Reviews Keywords: chills are multiplying nail polish, chills are multiplying swatch, desperately seeking persistent polish, nails, opi, opi chills are multiplying, opi chills are multiplying review, opi chills are multiplying swatch, opi nail polish review

Hello Kitty and Hello Spring: The Hello Kitty by OPI Spring Collection

March 8th, 2016 by Anna Oh 20 Comments

opi hello kitty spring 2016
OPI Hello Kitty Spring 2016 Collection

That’s right, everyone, it’s time for spring…nails! Never mind that I am writing this in my fleece slippers while catching up on a particularly gruesome season of The Walking Dead, LOL. I’ve managed to ignore the show for several seasons, but my inner fangirl loves a good binge. My inner fangirl is also super satisfied by this super cute collection by OPI. The new Hello Kitty by OPI Spring 2016 Nail Lacquer ($10 each) collection features 12 amazingly bright and eclectic colors for those ready to kick back in flip-flops.

opi hello kitty spring 2016
(L-R) Spoken from the Heart, Kitty White, My Twin Mimmy, Super Cute in Pink, Starry-Eyed for Daniel

I have 5 shades from the collection, and in usual OPI style, all of the colors, except for maybe the yellow one, are incredibly opaque and smooth. Spoken from the Heart and Super Cute in Pink, in particular, are what I call “1-coat wonders” and were a dream to apply.

I had a little difficulty with My Twin Mimmy, the yellow cream shade, but, honestly, I’ve never come across a stellar yellow, and after 3 coats it’ll do the job.

Last, but never least, are the surprisingly complex glitters. I get a groovy Austin Powers feel from Kitty White — a super fine icy silver shimmer. This shade was a surprise favorite for me!

Starry-Eyed for Daniel — such an awesome name btw — is an amazing multi-dimensional hot pink glitter. It’s very glittery and very kawaii… I think it’ll be a popular one.

opi hello kitty spring 2016 nail swatches
Nail swatches of the Spring 2016 OPI Hello Kitty Nail Collection

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There are 20 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Guest Post, Nails, OPI Keywords: nails, opi

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Welcome to Makeup and Beauty Blog! My name is Karen, and I’m a freelance writer obsessed with makeup.

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